Far Out! A Neptune in Transit Story

One day, a man wakes up as if from a heavy dream. But he feels free and unbound. Why? Because in the dream, this man touches something ephemeral in the cosmos that connects him to his creativity and spirit. In a moment, he knows that he can detach from his home, his job and his loved ones – without any moral sense of duty, or any passion for ambition. In its essence, it is cold, like the far out environs of Neptune itself, at the edge of our solar system. But when integrating pieces of the subconscious psyche into one’s identity, Neptune can bring gifts of beauty, knowledge and an expanded sense of self as a divine child.

Neptune’s signal is not an easy one to distinguish – it’s mark may be present when we feel as though we are in a haze or a fog. So indirectly, when we finally sense that we are in the fog, we might be understanding our Neptunian archetypal self. In Astrology, the natal chart will indicate what type of archetypes Neptune’s fog will characterize for you. And during a significant Neptunian transit, such as now when Neptune is “in its home” sign of Pisces, a particular facet of one’s life will present challenges to images of reality, faith, and judgment as a way to open us up to trust, surrender and letting go as a way of receiving and simply being.

Three years ago my life seemed solid. I lived in a nice Manhattan apartment in a great location. My job seemed to be secure. But Neptune was preparing to move into Pisces, already within a four degree orb to oppose my natal Sun/Mercury/Venus stellium in Virgo. It was also beginning its mid-life square to natal Neptune, which for me is at zero degrees Sagittarius. Neptune was challenging the refinement of my ordered Virgo life and reminding me of an original vision to wander, encounter and learn. It invited me into the dreamtime to connect to spirit and to a new sense of creativity and consciousness. I accepted this invitation.

One of the dreams indicated Northern California. I chose to move there. I just quit my job and left NYC after 40 years of life on the east coast. But accepting the invite was not an automatic blessing into this new way. I struggled hard in those first months as I tried to live my old life in a new place. The energies did not agree. Steven Forrest writes that Neptune is about surrender. And about questioning those fears and wishes when coming to the place of making decisions. Two years later I am still learning to surrender. But there have been blessings at each step along the way. And some of them have been glorious.

In the first place, I spent thousands of dollars shipping much of my possessions to California only to sell or give them away a few months later. It was soon clear that I would not need them and could no longer hold an attachment to them. Then, the place where I was to live would change. And change again. I had to let go of my image of home. Finally, I’ve had to look for new ways to generate energy, or money. Transiting Neptune is in my second house, the house of resources, security etc…. Money has come to me, sometimes in small and sometimes in large amounts, but not in the ways I was used to cultivating it.

These are just the physical aspects of this huge transit. But let me add some colors to this picture. Now, two years later, Neptune is also filling the void of my natal t-square: Sun/Merc/Venus in eighth house Virgo, squared by Saturn in Gemini in the 5th, and also my Neptune/Jupiter conjunction at the cusp of my 10th and 11th houses, and Sagittarius/Scorpio signs, respectively.

Natal chart with transits

A t-square acts like a three-wheeled car, one wheel is missing. The three points pull and scrape at each other to make life interesting. In this configuration, I act like a manager or leader who is vexed by his creative side and has tendencies to abandon a long-term project instead of seeing it through and working it all out. But with Neptune as the fourth wheel, If I surrender and keep check on all the realities that are coming to be seen – opportunities arrive to allow for spectacular ecstatic moments of pleasure, effort, creation for their own sakes. I learn to have faith, to trust and to practice devotion to an idea. The material results seem unconnected, but they are not. They are expressions from the divine validating my cause, my choice and my practice of faith.

Neptune’s influence extends to the visions and images of those worlds that we tend to ignore in our mundane life. It’s as if to say that the boundaries we create to make ourselves feel safe in the physical world are simply illusions, and that the images of fantasy may be real.

One example I will share happened to me while walking The Camino de Santiago de Compostella in Spain. Early in my month long 500-mile walk across the country my feet were hurting badly. Blisters, planter fasciitis and micro tears in the muscles of my feet were quite painful and brought me to tears. One night, I dreamt of a mare tending to her foal. The foal had been caught by some barbed wire, perhaps a crown of thorns, around his head and was bleeding. She tended to him and said “El Hijo” or “The Son.” This was no ordinary vision of spirit because when I woke in the morning, my feet no longer hurt and no new blisters appeared the rest of the way.

There are “ghostly” aspects of this energy too. My psychic sensitivity is greater. I am more in tune with death and transition – sometimes I wonder if it is mine instead of the person who is in front of me as my teacher. My feet remain in more worlds than one. Some people seem frightened by me or my actions. This is uncomfortable but hey, I choose to learn from Neptune. The shadow side is disillusion. I could be here too, but it is too soon to know.

This journey continues as I write. I’m in southern California, camping at night, until I join a program at Esalen next month to “Dream On My Feet.” I don’t know what happens after that. I only know that I will be OK if I just surrender and walk ahead one day at a time.

Recent Posts

Please include your birthdate, time of birth and birth place with your payment. I will contact you by email to schedule a time for your reading by phone, Skype or in person. For questions, email me at: rick@rickborutta.com Thank you!